Team News
Iowa City, IA The Gophers played in the CRAA National 7's tournament this past weekend, and played some great games against teams from all over the country. After going 1-2 in pool play on day one, the Gophers won both of their games on day two to finish the tournament 3-2. This earned the Gophers 7th place overall, which is the best nationals performance in recent Gopher rugby history. We want to thank all the family, friends, and supporters of Gopher rugby that made this trip possible and have led this program to it's success. With the season all wrapped up for the spring, the Gophers will enjoy some well deserved rest before picking up practices again later in the summer.
HOA 7's Recap
Omaha, NE The Gophers played in the Heart of America conference championship for sevens this past weekend, and put up their best performance of the season thus far. Coming out hot, they started the tournament off beating Kansas State 31-17. Following a forfeit win from Oklahoma, the Gophers played Iowa in the quarterfinals and convincingly won 31-5. The Gophers played Wayne State in the semifinals and dominated in style with a 32-12 win. After a hard-fought match against Iowa State in the final, the Gophers lost in 5-12 with a lights-out performance. For the second year in a row, the Gophers came runner-up in the conference and earned their spot to CRAA 7's nationals. These will be held in Iowa City, IA during May 9th - 10th.
During this same weekend, the second side squad got a chance to play at the Mallard Fest in Mankato, MN. They started the tournament off with a big 22-10 win over St Thomas, and many players making great plays! They had subsequent hard-fought games against SDSU and St Thomas. The Gophers have proudly sent both sides to more tournaments this year to give a wider spectrum of players the ability to compete.
If you would like to help support the team, please consider donating.
Thank you again for your support this season!
We’d like to thank all of our seniors that made this 15s season great! ~ Andrew Byrnes (Prop), Ben Wehling (Lock), Carter Roth (Center), Dominic Lelemsis (Winger), Eoin McVey (Prop), Jack Poston (Scrumhalf), Ryan Horejsi (Flanker), Sam Dodd (Flyhalf), Tenzin Gyaldatsang (Prop), Tristan Malletroit (Fullback), and Weston Loughmiller (Prop)
About
We are the competitive men's Rugby Club for the University of Minnesota. Our goal is to provide athletes a way to continue competitive sports as university students as well as an excellent culture. We play at the D1AA level in the Heart of America conference, which includes teams ranging from Iowa to Oklahoma. Our club has made numerous national's appearances and most recently got 9th at the 2025 CRAA national 7's tournament. In addition, we were the runner-ups in the 2025 Heart of America conference 7's tournament.
We are a competitive club that is open to new players from all levels of rugby experience. If you would like to get involved with the team, please fill out our interest form.